This invention relates generally to the art of gas cylinders, or tanks, and more specifically to methods and devices for disposing, or recycling, gas cylinders.
Deposal of hazardous waste is currently regulated by law in many developed countries. These laws attempt to control hazardous waste from "Cradle to Grave". Thus, gas tanks, or cylinders, which have been used to store propane, mapp, or oxygen gases, for example, are often classified as hazardous waste and they retain this classification until it can be clearly shown that they no longer contain hazardous waste. For this reason, waste handlers have charged large fees for disposing of substantially exhausted small propane tanks, for example. In this regard, many companies which regularly use propane gas currently pay as much as $35.00 per exhausted tank simply to dispose of them. It should be noted that although old gas tanks cannot normally be used, the material from which they are made, often steel, can be recycled. Notwithstanding this, because they still may contain hazardous waste, waste handlers charge large fees for their disposal. If users of propane tanks, and waste handlers, could readily, and visually ascertain that exhausted tanks no longer contain gas, and that it is not possible that they could hold gas, the tanks could be easily and economically deposed of and recycled as scrap metal.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/213,499 of Campbell, filed on Mar. 16, 1994 discloses an apparatus which can be used for testing the contents of gas tanks and then disarming them by removing their valves. Although such an apparatus effectively disarms gas tanks of a type normally manufactured in the United States in such a manner that waste handlers can readily, and visually, ascertain that the tanks are exhausted, the apparatus described in that application cannot be used for gas tanks, or CV cartridges, commonly manufactured in Europe.
European type gas tanks normally do not have easily removable valves, thus, the earlier Campbell device described above cannot be effectively used for disarming them. The European type gas tanks are also widely sold and used in the United States.
For the above reasons, it is an object of this invention to provide a gas tank evacuator for safely evaluating contents of European type gas tanks and thereafter effectively and safely evacuating residue gases from them where desired.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide such a gas tank evacuator which takes very little strength or dexterity to operate and which is uncomplicated and relatively inexpensive in operation and structure.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a method of preparing European type gas tanks for disposal which is inexpensive but yet which effectively communicates to others the disarmed nature of such thusly prepared gas tanks.